PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF JUDGES.

designedly, for Clemens Alexandrinus relates that some chronologers collected together the years of Abatthan and Ebron, (Abdon and Elon,) or made them contemporary. But we may easily reconcile Josephus with SCRIPTURE by only deducting eight years from the eighteen years' interregnum after Joshua, which will give Abdon his quota of years, and leave that interregnum its juster length of ten years.

"It is truly remarkable, and a proof of the great skill and accuracy of Josephus in forming the outline of this period, that he assigns, with St. Paul, a reign of forty years to Saul, Acts xiii. 21, which is omitted in the OLD TESTAMENT. His outline also corresponds with St. Paul's period of four hundred and fifty years from the division of the conquered lands of Canaan, until Samuel the prophet." See Dr. Hales's Chronology, vol. i., pages 16, 17; vol. ii,, page 28, 5-8.

Another method of removing these difficulties has been lately attempted in a new edition of the Universal History; but of conjectures there is no end; if the truth be not found in some of the preceding systems, the difficulties, I fear, must remain. I have my doubts whether the author of this book ever designed to produce the subject in a strict chronological scries. The book, in several places, appears to have been composed of historical memoranda having very little relation to each other, or among themselves; and particularly what is recorded in the beginning and the end. There is, however, one light in which the whole book may be viewed, which renders it invaluable it is a most remarkable history of the longsuffering of God towards the Israelites, in which we find the most signal instances of his justice and his mercy alternately displayed; the people sinned, and were punished; they repented, and found mercy. Something of this kind we meet with in every page. And these things are written for our warning. None should presume, for God is JUST; none need de

spair, for God is MERCIFUL.

102

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THE BOOK

OF

JUDGE S.

Year before the common year of Christ, 1443.-Julian Period, 327-Year from the Flood, 904.-Year before the first Olympiad, 667-Creation from Tisri, or September, 2561.

CHAPTER I.

After the death of Joshua the Israelites purpose to attack the remaining Canaanites; and the tribe of Judah is directed to go up first, 1, 2. Judah and Simeon unite, attack the Canaanites and Perizzites, kill ten thousand of them, take Adoni-bezek prisoner, 'cut off his thumbs and great toes, and bring him to Jerusalem, where he dies, 3-7: Jerusalem conquered, 8. A new war with the Canaanites under the direction of Caleb, 9-11. Kirjath-sepher taken by Othniel, on which he receives, as a reward, Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, and with her a south land with springs of water, 12–15. The Kenites dwell among the people, 16. Judah and Simeon destroy the Canaanites in Zephath, Gaza, &c., 17-19. Hebron is given to Caleb, 20. Of the Benjamites, house of Joseph, tribe of Manasseh, &c., 21-27. The Israelites put the. Canaanites to tribute, 28. Of the tribes of Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali, 29–33. rites force the children of Dan into the mountains, 34-36.

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NOW after the death of Joshua will go with thee, into thy lot.
So Simeon went with him.

it came to pass, that the
a
children of Israel asked the
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for us against the Canaanites first, to fight
against them.?

2 And the LORD said, "Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

3 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise

C

• Num. xxvii. 21; chap. xx. 18.- Gen. xlix. 8. NOTES ON CHAP. I. Verse 1. Now after the death of Joshua] How long after the death of Joshua this happened we cannot tell; it is probable that it was not long. The enemies of the Israelites, finding their champion dead, would naturally avail themselves of their unsettled state, and make incursions on the country.

Who shall go up] Joshua had left no successor, and every thing relative to the movements of this people must be determined either by caprice, or an especial direction of the Lord.

Verse 2. The Lord said, Judah shall go up] They had inquired of the Lord by Phinehas the high priest; and he had communicated to them the Divine counsel.

Verse 3. Come up with me into my lot] It appears that the portions of Judah and Simeon had not been

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4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand slew of them in a Bezek ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

6 But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great tocs.

Ver. 17.- d1 Sam. xi. 8. J cleared of the Canaanites, or that these were the parts which were now particularly invaded.

Versé 5. And they found Adoni-bezek] The word

matsa, "he found," is used to express a hostile encounter between two parties; to attack, surprise, &c. This is probably its meaning here. Adoni-bezek is literally the lord of Bezek. It is very probable that the different Canaanitish tribes were governed by a sort of chieftains, similar to those among the clans of the ancient Scottish Highlanders. Bezek is said by some to have been in the tribe of Judah. Eusebius and St. Jerome mention two villages of this name, not in the tribe of Judah, but about seventeen miles from Shechem.

Verse 6. Cut off his thumbs] That he might never be able to draw his bow or handle his sword; and great

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7 And Adoni-bezek said, Three- that dwelt in the mountain, and score and ten kings, having their in the south, and in the valley. thumbs and their great toes cut 10 And Judah went against the off, gathered their meat under | Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron : my table as I have done, so God hath re-(now the name of Hebron before was 'Kirjathquited me. And they brought him to Jeru-arba :) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, salem, and there he died. and Talmia.

toes, that he might never be able to pursue or escape that seventy kings, many of whom must have been from an adversary.

Verse 7. Threescore and ten kings] Chieftains, heads of tribes, or military officers. For the word king cannot be taken here in its proper and usual sense.

contemporaries, were placed under the table of the king of Bezek, and there fed; as in the houses of poor persons the dogs are fed with crumbs and offal, under the table of their owners.

So God hath requited me.] The king of Bezek seems to have had the knowledge of the true God, and a proper notion of a Divine providence. He now feels himself reduced to that state to which he had cruelly reduced others. Those acts in him were acts of tyrannous cruelty; the act towards him was an act of retributive justice.

And there he died.] He continued at Jerusalem in a servile and degraded condition till the day of his death. How long he lived after his disgrace we know not.

Verse 8. Had fought against Jerusalem] We read this verse in a parenthesis, because we suppose that it refers to the taking of this city by Joshua; for as he had conquered its armies and slew its king, Josh. x. 26, it is probable that he took the city: yet we find that the Jebusites still dwelt in it, Josh. xv. 63; and that the men of Judah could not drive them out, which probably refers to the strong hold or fortress on Mount Zion, which the Jebusites held till the days of David, who took it, and totally destroyed the Jebusites. See 2 Sam. v. 6-9, and 1 Chron. xi. 4-8. It is possible that the Jebusites, who had been discomfited by Joshua, had again become sufficiently strong to possess themselves of Jerusalem; and that they were now defeated, and the city itself set on fire but that they still were able to keep possession of their strong fort on Mount Zion, which appears to have been the citadel of Jerusalem.

Having their thumbs and their great toes cut off] That this was an ancient mode of treating enemies we learn from Ælian, who tells us, Var. Hist 1. ii., c. 9, that "the Athenians, at the instigation of Cleon, son of Cleanetus, made a decree that all the inhabitants of the island of Ægina should have the thumb cut off from the right hand, so that they might ever after be disabled from holding a spear, yet might handle an oar." This is considered by Elian an act of great cruelty; and he wishes to Minerva, the guardian of the city, to Jupiter Eleutheriùs, and all the gods of Greece, that the Athenians had never done such things. It was a custom among those Romans who did not like a military life, to cut off their own thumbs, that they might not be capable of serving in the army. Sometimes the parents cut off the thumbs of their children, that they might not be called into the army. According to Suetonius, in Vit. August., c. 24, a Roman knight, who had cut off the thumbs of his two sons to prevent them from being called to a military life, was, by the order of Augustus, publicly sold, both he and his property. These are the words of Suetonius: Equitem Romanum, quod duobus filiis adolescentibus, causa detractandi sacramenti, pollices amputasset, ipsum bonaque subjecit hasta. Calmet remarks that the Italian language has preserved a term, poltrone, which signifies one whose thumb is cut off, to designate a soldier destitute of courage and valour. We use poltroon to signify a dastardly fellow, without considering the import of the Verse 9. The Canaanites, that dwell in the mountain] original. There have been found frequent instances The territories of the tribe of Judah lay in the most of persons maiming themselves, that they might be southern part of the promised land, which was very incapacitated for military duty. I have heard an in-mountainous, though towards the west it had many stance in which a knavish soldier discharged his gun fine plains. In some of these the Canaanites had through his hand, that he might be discharged from dwelt; and the expedition marked here was for the his regiment. The cutting off of the thumbs was pro- purpose of finally expelling them. But probably this bably designed for a double purpose: 1. To incapaci- is a recapitulation of what is related Josh. x. 36; xi. tate them for war; and, 2. To brand them as cowards. 21; xv. 13. Gathered their meat under my table] I think this was a proverbial mode of expression, to signify reduction to the meanest servitude; for it is not at all likely

:

Verses 12-15. And Caleb, &c.] See this whole account, which is placed here by way of recapitulation, in Josh. xv, 13-19, and the explanatory notes there,

13 And Othniel, the son of wilderness of Judah, which lieth
in the south of Arad; " and
they went and dwelt among the
people.

Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother,
took it and he gave him Achsah
his daughter to wife.

14 And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?

17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. 15 And she said unto him, a Give me a 18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast blessing for thou hast given me a south land; thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, give me also springs of water. And Caleb and Ekron with the coast thereof.

gave her the upper springs and the nether- 19 And the LORD was with Judah; and springs. he draye out the inhabitants of the moun

16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses'tain; but could not drive out the inhabitants father-in-law, -went up out of the city of of the valley, because they had a chariots of palm trees with the children of Judah into the iron.

Verse 18. Judah took Gaza-and Askelon—and Ekron] There is a most remarkable variation here in the Septuagint; I shall set down the verse: Kat our εκληρονόμησεν Ιούδας την Γαζαν, ουδε τα όρια αυτής This is the turn given to the verse by Jonathan ben ουδε την Ασκάλωνα, ουδε τα όρια αυτής και την Ακκα- Uzziel, the Chaldee paraphrast: “ And the WORD ρων, ουδε τα όρια αυτής την Αζωτον, ουδε τα περισπο- of Jehovah was in the support of the house of Judah, για αυτης και ην Κυριος μετα Ιούδα. "But Judah and they extirpated the inhabitants of the mountains ; DID NOT possess Gaza, NOR the coast thereof; neither but afterwards, WHEN THEY SINNED, they were not able

The children of Joseph

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And they gave Hebron 26 And the man went into the unto Caleb, as Moses said and land of the Hittites, and built a he expelled thence the three sons city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

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21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el: and the LORD was with them..

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27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

i

29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

Gen. xxviii. 19. Josh. ii. 12, 14.-
Josh. xvi. 10; 1 Kings ix. 16.-

Num. xiv. 24; Deut. i. 36; Josh. xiv. 9, 13; xv. 13, 14. See xviii. 2.Josh. xv. 63; xviii. 28. Ver. 19. Josh. ii. 1; vii. 2; ch. | 11, 12, 13.to extirpate the inhabitants of the plain country, because they had chariots of iron." They were now left to their own strength, and their adversaries pre-Rossi's have o vailed against them.

From a work called the Dhunoor Veda, it appears that the ancient Hindoos had war chariots similar to those of the Canaanites. They are described as having many wheels, and to have contained a number of rooms. -Ward's Customs. ·

Verse 20: They gave Hebron unto Caleb] See this whole transaction explained Josh. xiv. 12, &c. -Verse 21. The Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin] Jerusalem was situated partly in the tribe of Judah, and partly in the tribe of Benjamin, the northern part belonging to the latter tribe, the southern to the former. The Jebusites had their strongest position in the part that belonged to Benjamin, and from this place they were not wholly expelled till the days of David. See the notes on ver. 8. What is said here of Benjamin is said of Judah, Josh. There must be an interchange of the names

xv. 63.

in one or other of these places.

Josh. xvii. Josh. xix. 15.

Instead of beith Yoseph, "the house of Joseph," ten of Dr. -Kennicott's MSS. and six of De beney Yoseph, “the children of Joseph;" and this is the reading of both the Septuagint and Arabic, as well as of two copies in the Hexapla of Origen.

Verse 23. Beth-el-the name of the city before was Luz.] Concerning this city and its names, see the notes on Gen. xxviii. 19.

Verse 24. Show us-the entrance into the city] Taken in whatever light we choose, the conduct of this man was execrable. He was a traitor to his country, and he was accessary to the destruction of the lives and property of his fellow citizens, which he most sinfully betrayed, in order to save his own. According to the rules and laws of war, the children of Judah might avail themselves of such men and their information; but this does not lessen, on the side of this traitor, the turpitude of the action.

Verse 26. The land of the Hittites] Probably some place beyond the land of Canaan, in Arabia, whither this people emigrated when expelled by JoUnto this day.] As the Jebusites dwelt in Jerusa-shua. The man himself appears to have been a Hitlem till the days of David, by whom they were driven out, and the author of the book of Judges states them to have been in possession of Jerusalem when he wrote; therefore this book was written before the reign of David.

Verse 22. The house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el] That is, the tribe of Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh, who dwelt beyond Jordan. Beth-el was not taken by Joshua, though he took Ai, which was nigh to it.

tite, and to perpetuate the name of his city he called the new one which he now founded Luz, this being the ancient name of Beth-el.·

Verse 27. Beth-shean] Called by the Septuagint EKVOwvπolis, Scythopolis, or the city of the Scythians. On these towns see the notes, Josh. xvii. 12, 13.

Verse 29. Neither did Ephraim] See the notes on the parallel passages, Josh. xvi. 5–10.

Verse 30. Neither did Zebulun drive out] See on Josh. xix. 10-15.